


The Shadows In Brightmoon

by Bookwormpride



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Best Friend Squad (except its falling apart), Canon Compliant, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gaslighting, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Past Child Abuse, Shadow Weaver Herself Is A Trigger Warning, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018) Season 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:40:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22427977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookwormpride/pseuds/Bookwormpride
Summary: With Shadow Weaver in Brightmoon and teaching her best friend Adora is falling back into old habits and struggling to cope with having the woman who raised her suddenly back in her life.
Relationships: Adora & Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora & Bow (She-Ra)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 176





	The Shadows In Brightmoon

Adoras eyes scanned the darkness of her bedroom, lingering on the shadows cast by the second moons light. Her fingers tightened around the hilt of the dagger under her pillow. She thought she had heard something moving, just the barest brush of cloth against the marble floor - like the hem of a long dress as someone crept - pulling her back from near sleep and instantly setting her on edge.

Her gaze landed on the bottom of the canopy that hung over her bed, billowing slightly in the breeze from her open windows and shifting just barely back and forth on the floor.

She released the breath she had been holding.

Adoras bedroom had become a sanctuary she never could have imagined while sleeping in the barracks with a dozen other cadets growing up. In the Horde even the Force Captain rooms were to be kept in a certain order and were subject to weekly inspections, and while they offered more privacy then the dorms a superior could still enter with their all-access code at any time.

When she had first arrived in Brightmoon Bow and Glimmer had stressed to her that her room was her private space, that she could decorate it how she wanted, could keep it as messy or clean as she felt comfortable, that she could go there to be alone, and, most importantly, that no one would ever enter without her permission.

Her room was _hers_. Her room was somewhere she could relax. Her room was _safe_. Or, it had been, until-

Shadow Weaver had appeared in her room the night she came to Brightmoon.

Shadow Weaver was still _in_ Brightmoon.

Shadow Weaver was healed, knew where Adora slept, and was no longer sealed away by a barrier of magic after Glimmer released her to save Adora from the Fright Zone.

Adora watched the rippling shadow of the waterfall on the wall across from her and tried to assure herself that it wasn’t growing, wasn’t moving, wasn’t going to turn into a solid figure standing in front of her like the shadows in the barracks when she was a kid, when Shadow Weaver would test her, training her to be alert, to be ready for attack at all times, to never let her guard down even in her sleep.

Adora turned over in bed and forced her eyes to close, her muscles to loosen, and her breath to come evenly. Her room was _hers_ , her room was _safe_. She was allowed to sleep soundly. She didn’t have to pass Shadow Weavers tests any more.

Footsteps outside her door had her sitting straight up, hands in fists, at the ready, before she realized it was only the nightly guard patrol passing by.

She hadn’t gotten a full nights sleep since Shadow Weaver came to Brightmoon.

* * *

Adora hadn’t been sick in years, but she knew right away the tell tale signs that told her she had caught the bug that seemed to be going around the castle.

She had gone to bed the night before with a sore throat and an unusual heaviness in her limbs that she had hoped she could sleep off, and woken up with a pounding headache, unable to breathe through her nose, a throat that felt as dry and rough as sand, and a chill that seemed to go down to her very bones. When she sat up the room spun for a moment before righting itself.

In the Horde it would have been time to start thinking of ways to stay out of sight as much as possible without raising suspicion until she felt better, even if that meant taking latrine duty just so she could be alone for a couple hours. Anything was better than admitting you were sick.

Before she could start running through a list of potential hideaways in the castle a small voice in her head that sounded a lot like Glimmers reminded her, she wasn’t in the Horde any more. Weakness wouldn’t be punished or exploited. No one would think less of her for being ill.

And as further proof of that, she remembered awhile back when she had tried to hide an injury she got defending a village from the Horde, and how Bow and Glimmer had been so upset when they found out, how they had taken care of her with gentle hands and kind words, and how no one in Brightmoon had treated her cruelly in the days she was recovering.

Keeping those things in mind Adora got dressed to go to breakfast, determined to ignore the persistent fear that told her to stay in her room, to not let anyone see her with her pale complexion and red nose and slightly glassy eyes, to hide like she had been doing her whole life.

In the hallway guards nodded to her and Brightmoon residents muttered hellos as she passed and not a single one so much as gave her a disapproving look. The knot of anxiety in her chest started to ease.

Then in the doorway to the dining hall Adora found herself face to face with the last person she wanted to see; Shadow Weaver, flanked by two guards, carrying a tray with her breakfast to eat elsewhere.

Adora froze, a chill that had nothing to do with being sick going through her.

“Adora,” Shadow Weaver greeted. She tilted her head, the slits of her mask narrowing and her voice taking on a tone of false, sickly sweet concern. “You look unwell. How unfortunate, I do hope you feel better soon. What would people think if they knew their Princess of Power could fall ill?”

Adora could say nothing as Shadow Weaver chuckled and her and her guards continued on their way. Her ears were ringing, her palms clammy. At the other end of the dining hall she saw Glimmer and Bow looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to join them as she always did.

She turned on her heel and took off back down the corridor she had just come from, all thought of fighting her Horde-conditioned instincts forgotten. She had to get away, had to get out of sight. Shadow Weaver already suspected she was sick, if anyone else found out-

_What would people think if they knew their Princess of Power could fall ill?_

The third floor library was small, containing books on Brightmoons history and genealogy, and Adora had never seen anyone inside. She shut the door softly behind her and padded between the tall bookcases lined with thick, bound books and dusty old tomes. Settling on the floor between two shelves at the back of the room she thought that with the plush carpet and low lighting the library was a much more pleasant place to spend a sick day than an old Horde storage cabinet or bathroom stall. 

It wasn’t long, only early afternoon judging by the angle of the light through the windows, when she heard the familiar sound of Glimmer teleporting along with a flash of light a few shelves over.

“Adora?” Bows voice called, filled with worry.

Adora felt a pang of guilt at that and opened her mouth to respond only to give a harsh cough instead. “Here,” She croaked out when she could.

Bow and Glimmer appeared from behind the shelves.

“We’ve been looking for you everywhere!” Glimmer exclaimed, kneeling beside her.

“Are you okay?” Bow asked on her other side. “What are you doing in here?”

Glimmers brought a hand up to Adoras cheek, causing Adora to flinch before leaning into her friends oddly cool touch that felt wonderful against her hot skin. Glimmers eyebrows drew together with concern. “You have a fever,” She fretted. “Come on, let’s get you to your room.”

They helped her up and started to guide her towards the door before Adora pulled back with a flicker of panic as she realized they intended to walk, through the halls where who knew how many eyes would see her, fevered and weak and mildly disoriented.

_What would people think..._

“What-?” Glimmer started to ask, then saw the fear in Adoras eyes and her gaze on the door, and understood. “Okay, it’s okay, I’ll teleport us there.”

The three were deposited in Adoras bedroom, and Bow and Glimmer quickly went to work getting her settled into bed and bringing her blankets and pillows and tissue, making sure she was comfortable.

Glimmer teleported out again to bring her soup from the kitchen, leaving Bow and Adora alone.

“Are you warm enough?” Bow asked, pulling the edge of the top cover down and sitting at the end of the bed.

In her own room, with her friends fussing over her, Adora started to feel embarrassed. She had overreacted, let someone she swore would never get to her again get to her. “Yeah,” She said, picking at a loose thread on the cover to avoid looking at Bow.

“Hey,” He said gently, leaning forward to try and catch her eye. “What happened? We saw you come to the dining hall, and... Shadow Weaver, and then you just… left? Did she say something to you?”

Adora suppressed a cringe.

As much as she hated that a few words from the woman who raised her could send her into such a blind panic, Shadow Weaver had a point, what would people think if She-Ra, their savior, their mythological hero, the princess with _healing powers_ , could get sick? 

_Weak, useless, incompetent._ _She can’t even heal herself. What if she gets sick before battle? Is she really able to protect us?_

“No,” She lied lamely. “I guess I just… got freaked out, when I saw all the people, you know?”

There was a long silence as Bow looked at her skeptically and she refused to meet his eye again. Adora knew that he knew she was lying. “Okay,” He finally relented. “But, you know you’re safe here, right? You don’t have to hide. And you can tell me and Glimmer if something is wrong?”

“Yeah,” Adora agreed quickly, nodding. “Yeah.”

And she did know, but she also knew that they wouldn’t understand.

* * *

“And he almost fell off!” Glimmer howled with laughter, playfully shoving Bows shoulder.

“I did not, I had it!” Bow protested, but his blush told otherwise.

Adora laughed along, the sides of her stomach starting to hurt in the best way. It had been awhile since she had laughed like this, she realized, it had been awhile since her _friends_ had laughed like this - with Bow healing from the blast that nearly killed him, and Glimmer busy attending to her new duties and carrying a sadness that kept even her brightest smiles from reaching her eyes. There had been a lot less pure, unbridled joy between them.

Glimmer rolled her eyes, continuing with the story. “So we finally got up-”

“Adora, Bow,”

At the sound of the unexpected, familiar voice Adora found herself snapping to attention, shoulders back chest out, arms stiff at her sides, heels together, as had been drilled into her as a child until it became second nature.

She started to raise her hand to her forehead for a salute. “Shadow Wea-”

“My queen,” Shadow Weaver continued, floating past them to Glimmers side. “I wanted to speak with you about…”

Adora blinked, surprised. She felt a hand slip into the one at her side and glanced over to see Bow looking at her with concern.

She felt her cheeks heating up as she realized what she had done, and immediately made a point to slouch, folding her arms over her chest in a way that would have never been acceptable around a superior in the Horde, and hoped that Shadow Weaver hadn’t noticed her slip up.

If she hadn’t been so angry with herself she would have found it almost humorous. All her life she had struggled to be the perfect soldier for Shadow Weaver, and now it was a struggle not to be.

* * *

Adora gave a long, loud groan of frustration.

“It shouldn’t bother me,” She ranted, running her hands over her hair again, causing more of it to fall out of her ponytail as she did. “I mean, _I_ know what she did, I _know_ what it was like!”

Sitting on the bed, listening to her patiently, Bow nodded his encouragement for her to keep going when she glanced his way.

“But she just- _arhg_!” Adora growled, wringing her hands in front of her. “It’s like she wants to pretend that I’m just _remembering things wrong_ , or that it wasn’t as bad as I thought, like it’s my fault I reacted to things the way I did!”

“She’s gaslighting you,” Bow said, shaking his head sadly.

“Yeah! I don’t know what that means, but _yeah_!” Adora agreed enthusiastically, pointing at him before throwing her arms up again, then in a poor imitation of Shadow Weavers voice sarcastically quoted, “‘ _Oh, silly Adora, she always ate in such a hurry_ ,’ uh, maybe because if I didn’t finish in time I wouldn’t get another chance to eat until the next meal period? ‘ _T_ _hose simulations were never designed to hurt you,’_ tell that to Kyle when he broke his arm! Oh, oh, and my favorite, ‘ _she’s always been paranoid like this_ ,’ hmm, I can’t imagine who _made me that way_!”

Adora sat down hard on her bed, glaring straight ahead before falling onto her back and covering her eyes. “She makes me feel like I’m crazy.”

She felt the mattress dip as Bow laid back beside her, propping himself up on his elbow. “You’re not crazy, like I said, she’s gaslighting you - making you question your own memory and experiences so that you aren’t sure what's true any more. But you were right before, you know what it was like, you know what she did. What you went through was real, Adora, and she can’t erase it or the pain it caused you.”

Adora felt tears well up in her eyes at the acknowledgement, at the _validation_ that her memories weren’t wrong, that her feelings were justified. She quickly reached up to cover her face, to hide the quickly building wetness.

She felt Bow pulling her up and into his arms and accepted the embrace. “T-thank you,” She whispered into his shoulder.

“Of course,” He said. “I’m here to remind you that she’s wrong anytime you need it, and… and Glimmer too.”

But even as he said it Adora could hear the uncertainty in his voice.

* * *

With missions almost daily since Salineas fell there had been no time or need to train, but Adora missed it, she longed for the friendly competition and easy tests of her abilities without the threat of real danger, and spending time with her friends.

In the greenspace outside Brightmoon Adora stood as She-Ra and raised her sword, giving a nod to Bow at the other end of the garden. He pulled back the string of his bow and let an arrow fly, slicing through the air directly towards her, for her to dodge at the last second. 

Another volley followed that she blocked with the flat of her blade, jumping back as an arrow hit the ground where she had just been standing.

They went on like that for some time, falling into an easy, familiar pattern with the occasional lighthearted taunt and laughter at mistakes.

Then Bow fired an arrow, and Adora ducked. But instead of lodging harmlessly in the ground a few feet behind her like the rest had, it soared through the air as if completely weightless, and into the glass paneling of the greenhouse.

The window shattered, and two startled yelps could be heard from within.

Adora and Bow exchanged matching looks of horror before running for the greenhouse, Adora already phasing away She-Ra before they reached the entrance. 

They found Glimmer and Shadow Weaver inside, thankfully uninjured by the stray arrow that now lay on the floor amongst the shattered glass, pieces of a half broken vase, and, to Adoras confusion, what appeared to be fine, sparkling blue sand.

“What happened-” Glimmer started before being interrupted by a much more outraged cry.

“What did you do?” Shadow Weaver demanded furiously, storming over to where the bottom half of the broken vase stood by the window, still holding some of the blue particles, and attempting to pick it up only for the rest of it to fall apart in her hands.

Adora felt as if someone had sent a thousand volts of electricity through her body, setting every nerve on alert. She struggled for breath as if there was a weight on her chest, her eyes darting back and forth between Bow and Shadow Weaver as she stalked up to tower over him.

“Shadow Weaver,” Glimmer called, still standing by the basin in the center of the greenhouse.

Bow looked taken aback by the venom in Shadow Weavers voice. “Um, sorry, we were sparring and- and one of my arrows went long-”

Adora waited for the familiar red sparks to begin dancing over his skin, for him to suddenly be pulled forward in a red glow as Shadow Weaver manipulated his body. She couldn’t breathe, her own heartbeat pounding in her ears.

“You know I am not allowed to step foot in Mystacor,” Shadow Weaver interrupted, her mask only inches from Bows face as he leaned away from her, a crease forming between his eyebrows. “Where am I to get more Crystal Conductor? How am I to perform more than rudimentary spells without the proper materials-”

“Ma’am,” Adora finally interrupted when she found her voice, though it came out sounding choked. “We’ll clean it up and you can still use-”

“No, we _can’t_ use it,” Shadow Weaver snapped with barely a glance her way. “The batch has been contaminated, I need a whole new supply,” She glared at Bow. “But where am I to find that in this magical wasteland of a kingdom, hmm?”

She leaned in closer to him, her voice becoming layered and taking on an otherworldly echo Adora knew only happened when she was really mad. “I _know_ how you feel about _me_ , _boy_ , but I didn’t think you would go so far as to actively attempt to sabotage my training of our Queen.”

Bows face was beaded with sweat, “I wasn’t-”

“Shadow Weaver, _hey_ ,” Glimmer finally asserted with more force, stepping forward. “Calm down, it was an accident, and I can ask my Aunt Casta to send more Crystal Conductor from Mystacor.”

Shadow Weaver held Bow in her stare for another long moment before she straightened and looked at Glimmer. “If you could get her to send a proper casting basin as well that would be much appreciated, and _please_ ask your friends to be more _careful_ around our equipment from now on,” She said with a sneer in Bows direction.

Before Glimmer could respond Shadow Weaver had pushed past Bow and Adora and out of the greenhouse.

Bow let out a shaking breath. Adora rushed to him. 

“Are you okay?” She asked frantically, grabbing his arms. “I’m so sorry she-”

“Whoa, whoa it’s okay, I’m alright,” He assured her, returning her hold with a gentle, grounding grip. “I just wasn’t expecting her to blow up like that, it was a bit of an overreaction.”

“Shadow Weaver just takes my training seriously,” Glimmer explained dismissively, looking at the blue crystal on the floor beneath her feet. “There's a triple full moon tomorrow night and she wants to teach me some spells for it and without the Crystal Conductor she wouldn’t be able to. I probably shouldn’t have put the jar near the window…”

“Really?” Adora snapped, stepping towards Glimmer who looked up in surprise at her tone. “You still think this is a good idea? Even after that? She hasn’t changed, Glimmer, she- she could have hurt Bow, she-”

Glimmer's expression became indignant. “She wasn’t going to hurt anyone, besides, I wouldn’t have let her-”

“You think you could have stopped her?” Adora shouted. “You think I haven’t tried to my _whole life_?”

The silence that followed her words was deafening, the only sound Adoras labored breathing. Glimmer looked as if she had been struck, her mouth agape and eyes wide.

Adora felt Bow wrap an arm around her shoulder. “Come on, Adora,” He said softly.

“I’m sorry!” Glimmer cried, running after them as Bow started to lead Adora out. Adora stubbornly turned her face away as Glimmer jogged beside them.

“Glimmer, I think we all just need to calm down right now,” Bow said haltingly. “Adora and I are going to go get cleaned up and maybe have some tea and relax for a bit, we’ll catch you later.”

Glimmers face fell but she stopped in her tracks, letting them go.

* * *

From outside the doors to the war room Adora could hear voices inside that she quickly registered as Bow and Glimmers.

She went to push open the doors and join them when the words reached her.

“...just walk around without a guard even watching her?”

“I get it, we can’t trust her, she’s not good, she’s hurt all of us before. Adora already lectured me on this, so you can save your breath, Bow,” Glimmer said haughtily. Adora could almost hear the eye roll in her voice.

“But that's the thing,” Bow said evenly. “Don’t you see what her being here is doing to Adora? We told her Brightmoon could be her home, that she would be safe here, but she doesn’t _feel_ safe any more, Glimmer.”

“Adora knows that Shadow Weaver can’t hurt her anymore!” Glimmer argued. “She’s stronger now, she said so herself!”

“You _know_ that just because she _knows_ that doesn’t mean she feels it when she sees Shadow Weaver wherever she goes,” Bow reasoned firmly.

“So what should I do? Punish Shadow Weaver for something she hasn’t even done? Keep holding her prisoner because she makes people uncomfortable?” Glimmer asked sarcastically. “I’m the queen, Bow, I have to be fair!”

“A few months ago you would have done anything to protect Adora from her-”

“You’re making it sound like I don’t care about Adora and you know I do, but I can’t just-”

As the voices began to rise and mingle as their owners tried to talk over each other Adora backed away from the door, feeling sick to her stomach, not wanting to hear any more of her friends argument about her.

Walking back down the hall she saw Shadow Weaver turn the corner and directed her gaze to the floor.

“Good afternoon, Adora,” Shadow Weaver drawled.

She ignored her, but still the sound of her voice made Adoras skin crawl.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: the working title for this was "Shadow Weaver Can Choke" and that pretty much sums up the vibe I wanted this fic to have


End file.
